MP supports calls for removal of Ashanti Regional Police Commander

Member of Parliament for Awasase, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak has added his voice to calls for the removal of Ashanti Regional Police Commander.

He said DCOP Kwesi Mensah Duku did a poor job supervising his men whose deliberate actions resulted in the death of the seven young men.

The Minority Chief Whip’s comment follows numerous calls from families of the victims of the Manso Nkwanta killing who described the Commander’s as appalling.

“How does he cross check to find out the veracity of information his men are bringing? They came and paraded those guns, now the investigative committee has come to say there is never a way they can link those guns to those gentlemen.

“He addressed the whole world telling us this one-sided story without crossing it…being a senior officer, I believe that it is not only the officers that should be punished, but he must also equally be punished,” he said.

When the incident occurred, the police publicly displayed ammunition and weapons allegedly used by the victims.

Police had held that the seven persons who were shot dead by the police at Manso Nkwata were robbers that engaged their patrol team in a shootout.

However, agitated youth in Asawase, a predominantly Muslim community, said they knew the seven to be decent members of the community.

Many believed police were reacting to a previous incident in which an officer was killed by unknown assailants.

The committee’s findings, parts of which were made public recently, stated that there were no facts to support the claim by the police that the men they shot and killed were armed robbers who engaged in an exchange of fire with the patrol team.

“The 21 police personnel involved in the incident who have been found to be the principal suspects be interdicted by the Police administration and be subjected to formal police criminal investigation into the matter,” was one of the recommendations by the committee.

However, there has not an update on what is happening to the officers, prompting the vociferous MP to file a parliamentary question for the interior Minister to update the House.